Letter Review please? Refund of Pre-Booked Driving Lessons?

gemnomnom

bris wrote: »

You paid for driving lessons, there is more to the lessons than just driving.

As per my other posts, I did not expect to be in the driving seat for 100% of the time, but did expect some useful/relevant information whilst she was driving. Or even failing that, to not have half an hour wasted on three occasions.

Caz3121

ok, going by your view of how much instruction you have. (irrespective of the fact eveyone seems to agree behind the wheel time is not the full lesson)
6 hours taken
1.5hrs disputed
total lesson with no dispute = 4.5 hours
hourly rate for a lesson booked outwith the special block deal = £21
4.5 hours @ £21 per hour = £94.50

gemnomnom

Caz3121 wrote: »

ok, going by your view of how much instruction you have. (irrespective of the fact eveyone seems to agree behind the wheel time is not the full lesson)
6 hours taken
1.5hrs disputed
total lesson with no dispute = 4.5 hours
hourly rate for a lesson booked outwith the special block deal = £21
4.5 hours @ £21 per hour = £94.50

Forgive me for being slow but why bring the £21 into it? What is the actual 'consumer law' about block booking and no refunds? The condition of getting 10 lessons for £99 was that there could be no refunds. However CD advised that consumer rights (i.e. paying for something and not receiving it) outweighs the company's T&Cs (i.e. no refunds on block booked lessons).

Any help would be much appreciated.

Money-Saving-King

gemnomnom wrote: »

However CD advised that consumer rights (i.e. paying for something and not receiving it)

You need to find out the exact wording of what you signed up for. How much driving time did it say to expect? You may have to read terms & conditions to find out. If they have provided what they said they would then as far as consumer law goes you haven't got a case.

arcon5

My first driving license he drove me to a hill about 30 seconds away. The hill had about a 1/4 mile straight and a really steep hill where at the peak we took a right. It was terrifying. I'd never driven in my life. I do though think it suited my learning style - and of course the cars are dual pedals so I know the driving instructor wouldn't let anything untoward happen.

But I certainly wouldn't accept this would be suitable for everybody

arcon5

gemnomnom wrote: »

Forgive me for being slow but why bring the £21 into it? What is the actual 'consumer law' about block booking and no refunds? The condition of getting 10 lessons for £99 was that there could be no refunds. However CD advised that consumer rights (i.e. paying for something and not receiving it) outweighs the company's T&Cs (i.e. no refunds on block booked lessons).

Any help would be much appreciated.

It does.

The law is about being professionally competent and showing due care. So the instructor would be expected to offer a level of service that a reasonable and informed person would consider reasonable.

But it seems many are debating as to whether the instructor showed due care based on your needs and expectations and the description of his services.

For me it depends on what happened in this 15 minutes... if it was silent then i'd be on your side. But if the instructor was demonstrating basic instruments and techniques on the road then it could be considered reasonable as a first lesson.

If you could demonstrate the contract for services was performed to a reasonable standard then I suspect a judge would deem a pro-rata refund reasonable at the very least. So I wouldn't agree the usual hourly rate would come in to it in such instance.

bod1467

Reading this thread, He (instructor) was a She, and She was silent during the time of driving to the "start" point.

Have I understood this correctly OP?

gemnomnom

Money-Saving-King wrote: »

You need to find out the exact wording of what you signed up for. How much driving time did it say to expect? You may have to read terms & conditions to find out. If they have provided what they said they would then as far as consumer law goes you haven't got a case.

The T&Cs (what I was provided with anyway) are quite minimal and does not mention anything related to driving time. So where does my case stand from this point?

arcon5 wrote: »

It does.

The law is about being professionally competent and showing due care. So the instructor would be expected to offer a level of service that a reasonable and informed person would consider reasonable.

But it seems many are debating as to whether the instructor showed due care based on your needs and expectations and the description of his services.

For me it depends on what happened in this 15 minutes... if it was silent then i'd be on your side. But if the instructor was demonstrating basic instruments and techniques on the road then it could be considered reasonable as a first lesson.

If you could demonstrate the contract for services was performed to a reasonable standard then I suspect a judge would deem a pro-rata refund reasonable at the very least. So I wouldn't agree the usual hourly rate would come in to it in such instance.

It was not silence. It was inane chatter. Nothing was demonstrated or even talked about that was relevant to learning to drive. In terms of demonstrating for a judge, how would I? Surely it would be a case of my word against the instructors?

bod1467 wrote: »

Reading this thread, He (instructor) was a She, and She was silent during the time of driving to the "start" point.

Have I understood this correctly OP?

No, sorry if I gave that impression. It was just chatter until we began. Does this change things?

gemnomnom

Hope this isn't thread-resurrecting too much, but just thought I'd post an update. I sent off my letter to the driving instructor's boss, and received no reply within the stated time-frame (7 days). Rang Consumer Direct again and they have advised to send a second letter as a letter before court action. This was a separate advisor I spoke to and they are continuing to 'back me up' as it were.

An update for all who thought I was wrong to pursue this, and that I was 'delusional' for thinking the hour I paid for should be an hour spent learning: CD have since reported this driving school to Trading Standards for investigation for unfair business practice.

I hope anyone else who feels scammed by any driving school in the future finds this thread and knows you can complain and get a refund. From the general responses it seems driving off 15 minutes there and 15 minutes back may be the normal practice, but that doesn't make it right or fair...

unholyangel

gemnomnom wrote: »

Hope this isn't thread-resurrecting too much, but just thought I'd post an update. I sent off my letter to the driving instructor's boss, and received no reply within the stated time-frame (7 days). Rang Consumer Direct again and they have advised to send a second letter as a letter before court action. This was a separate advisor I spoke to and they are continuing to 'back me up' as it were.

An update for all who thought I was wrong to pursue this, and that I was 'delusional' for thinking the hour I paid for should be an hour spent learning: CD have since reported this driving school to Trading Standards for investigation for unfair business practice.

I hope anyone else who feels scammed by any driving school in the future finds this thread and knows you can complain and get a refund. From the general responses it seems driving off 15 minutes there and 15 minutes back may be the normal practice, but that doesn't make it right or fair...

Well actually.....it can. If goods or services are "not of satisfactory quality" it is because they do not meet the standard the average person would reasonably expect in the circumstances (including price paid - for £10 a lesson.......well even when I learned to drive over 10 years ago, £10 was cheap). In this case it seems driving 15 mins away is within the average persons expectations. Also meaning that it would fail the misleading testing since it has to mislead the average consumer.

She had to make sure you were competent enough to be on the road. When I learned to drive, my mum took me out one time and was throwing instructions at me all at the same time to mirror, signal, break, change gear, turn etc. What is 2nd nature for an experience driver takes a learner much much longer as they actually have to think about what they're doing. Until your reaction time is sufficiently lower, allowing you on the roads (even with them having a brake pedal on their side) can be dangerous. I imagine this is the defence she would use in a claim and imo it has a high chance of persuading a judge it was necessary.

However, I did notice you said for three of the five you drove 15 mins away......what about the other 2? If you left from the house with those 2 then the above (about making sure you were competent enough) seems very likely.